Cable railway



(No Model.)

J. 'HARTMAN. Jr.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1.-

I CABLE RAILWAY. No. 389,887.

" Patented Sept. 25, 1888.

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(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 2.

J. HARTMAN, Jr.

GABLB RAILWAY.

No. 389,887. Patented Sept. 25, 1888.

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UNrrED rarns ATENT Grams.

JOHN HARTMAN, JR, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

eAsLe RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 389,887, datedSeptember 25, 1888.

Application filed August 19, 1885. Serial No. 174,833. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OHN HARTMAN, Jr., a citizen of the United States,residing at Philadelphia, in the county of- Philadelphia and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in GableRailways and Conduits; and I do hereby declare the following to be asufficiently full, clear, and exact description thereof to enable othersskilled in the art to make and use the said invention.

This invention relates to cable railways and conduits located at thegrade or in the plane of roadways or thoroughfares used for othertravel. There have been experienced in such railways hinderances andinconveniencies in operation consequent upon the expansion by freezingof the soil in which the conduit for masking and protecting the cable isplaced, pinching and constricting the conduit so that the grippingmechanism was impeded in its progress, and the wheels used forsupporting and guiding the cable demanded frequent lubrication at timeswhen access to them could only be had by interrupting. travel.

The object of this invention is, by an improved construction of conduitand wheels, to avoid these difficulties,as herein described and claimed.

I will now proceed to describe the mode of making and using the saidinvention, referring in so doing to the drawings annexed and the lettersof reference marked thereon.

Figure 1 isa plan view ofthe improved conduit and its braces, thepavement and covering earth or concrete being omitted; Fig. 2, atransverse section of the roadway,showing an end view of the conduitwith its bracings and the guiding-wheels, cable, and grip; Fig. 3, acentral vertical lengthwise section of the conduit,showing a sideelevation of the grip, the

cable, andthe guiding-rollers. Fig. 4 shows a vertical section throughthe plane indicated by the dotted line 0c .90 in Figs. 1 and 3, showinga lower guiding-roller and its lubricating apparatus; and Fig. fishows amodification in the form of the conduit in transverse section.

The same letters of reference apply to the same parts in the severalfigures.

A represents the pavement of the roadway; B, the ballast, concrete, orearth supporting the same; 0, the chamber or space of the ca ,5, alsoformed of channel-iron.

hie-conduit; D and D,the tracks or rails for supporting the cars; D thesill or stringer supporting the rail D from the cross bar or tie F. Therail D is of metal and of such form as to be directly attached to thecross-tie F without the intervention of timber.

The conduit 0 is inclosed by walls 0 and O of plate metal, and with abottom, 0 also of plate metal, which are united by angle-irons G in theusual mode by rivets. The upper edges of the side walls,O',are bracedand stiffened lengthwise by angular channel-bars C, riveted to theplates with their upper flanges turned horizontally outward, and withsuch a space between the bars 0 as to permit the shaft or plate of thegripping apparatus to slide freely between them.

The plates 0 (3 and angle bars 0 and channel-bars (3* of the conduit 0are braced vertically by diagonal braces H, formed, preferably, ofchannel-iron, and secured by rivets to the bars 0 at the upper and innerends, and at the lower and outer ends to the base plate or sill H, asshown in Figs. 1, 2, 4., and The bottom C of the conduit 0 rests uponand is fastened to the center of the sill H. From the sill H, secured tothe lower side of the plates 0 of the channel 0, are braces H ofchannel-iron, having their upper ends secured to the braces H directlyunder the point of attachment of the inner ends of the cross-ties F. Theouter ends of the cross-ties F are supported by the braces H", ofchanneliron, which extend ob liquely downward and inward from thecrossties F to the sill H, to which they are securely fastened, and maybe also fastened at the place of crossing to the braces H by belts orrivets.

The sill H is made of such depth as to beincapableofspringingperceptibly when weight is placed upon it.

The oblique direction of the braces H and H causes any weight placedupon them through pressure upon the sills F to tend to move their upperends in the direction of the arrows marked upon them, thus tending toopen the cleft 0 between the bars 0. This tendency to open the cleft isresisted by the tensile strength of the braces H and the stiffness invertical direction of the sill H,whieh, assisted by the weight ofconcrete or earth, B, resting thereon, and the load resting upon therails D and D, so that while all tendency to close the cleft C" bysuperimposed weight is avoid ed the widening thereof is also prevented,the opposing strains being transmitted to the sill H, where theyneutralize each other.

The upper surface of the conduit 0 in the portion formed of the plates Obeing oblique, any compression from the expansion of the groundresulting from freezi ng of moisture contained therein is prevented frompinching or closing the cleft 0 by being reflected upward, the ground incontact with the outer surface of the plate 0 sliding thereon whenpressed horizontally against it by freezing, and confined at the sidesof the roadway or street, as frequently occurs, by deep curbstones andby buildings with intervening pavements located on the roadsides.

In the conduit 0, at one side from the center, is the cable J. which issupported by grooved wheels or pulleys K, turning upon spindles orshafts K, which shafts are tubular and perforated and extend into theoil receptacles or fountains I, from which they receive oil-supply. Thewheels K are so located that the plane ofthe center of the groovecoincides with that of the line of the cable J, and the shafts arepartially below and the oil-receptacles outside of the conduit 0. Thepulleys K should be balanced, so as to avoid vibration and jarring inrunning. In the same vertical plane as the cable J at the base of allascending grades is another roller or pulley, L, also provided with atubular perforated shalt, L, and oilrescrvoir, L", the function of whichpulley is to prevent abrasion and friction of the cable J against theupper side of the conduit when under strain. By the system oflubrication above described an economy of both labor and oil inlubricating the pulleys is effected, and

by having the wheels K to project below the bottom plate, 0*, theconduit may be of less height and cost and of greater strength andstiffness than is otherwise practicable.

G is the gripping mechanism attached to the car (preferably to the axlesor axle-boxes) without the intervention of the usual bearingsprings, sothat the relative level of the rails and the grip shall remainconstantly the same irrespective of the load upon the car.

Having described my invention and the mode of making and operating thesame, what I claim is- 1. An improved cable railway, consisting of aconduit formed of plates secured together by angle-braces longitudinallyand so braced and counterbraced vertically and laterally to afoundation-sill and the rails that vertical con1- pression shall tend tospread the side thereof and lateral compression of soil shall bedeflected, in combination with cable-supporting wheels partially withinsaid conduit and provided with automatic lubricatirig-spindles andreservoirs, substantially as set forth.

2. In a cable railway, the combination of a tubular conduit having itsupper surfaces inclined so as to elude lateral compression from frost,with rollers projecting into its upper portion and provided withoil-reservoirs and automaticallylubricating spindles, substantially asand for the purpose set forth.

3. In 'a cable-railway conduit, the combination of the plates 0, G, andC angle-bars C channel-bars G, braces H, 11', and H", and sills H and F,constructed and arranged. substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

JNO. llAlt'lll'IAN, J R.

XVitnesses:

James P. ln'rrr, JouN B. Dnvmu.

